I love congee, it's probably one of my favourite breakfast dishes and I have some great congee recently in Thailand. Here's how I make it at home to help reduce the cook time but ensure that it still has lots of flavour. It's also a great dish to make if you have leftover cooked chicken in the fridge.
Category
Breakfast
Servings
4
Prep time
10 minutes
Cook time
40 minutes
I love congee, it's probably one of my favourite breakfast dishes and I have some great congee recently in Thailand. Here's how I make it at home to help reduce the cook time but ensure that it still has lots of flavour. It's also a great dish to make if you have some chicken in the fridge that you need to use.
Ingredients
-
1L chicken stock (white)
-
2 x thumb-size piece fresh ginger
-
2 spring onions
-
1 garlic clove
-
2 tsp light soy sauce
-
180g Jasmine rice
-
600g chicken thighs
-
pinch of sea salt and white pepper
-
1 tbsp oyster sauce
-
pinch of MSG
-
maggi seasoning
-
4 eggs
-
1 tsp sesame oil
-
coriander leaves, to serve
Directions
Prep the soup base
Put chicken stock in a large saucepan and place over medium high heat.
Slice 1 of the pieces of ginger and add to the saucepan, along with 1 smashed garlic clove, the white part of the spring onions and half of the soy sauce.
Bring to a boil, then pour in the rice. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Cook the chicken
Dice the chicken thigh into cubes. Place in a large bowl and season with salt and white pepper. Add the oyster sauce and MSG and stir well to combine. Set aside to marinate.
Once the rice has cooked for 15 minutes, add the chicken to the pan.
Stir to combine, then continue cooking for a further 15 minutes. Stir the congee quite often and vigorously as it gets closer to being cooked.
Cook the eggs
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add the eggs and cook for 2 minutes.
Turn the heat off and leave the eggs to sit in the hot water for 3 minutes (or 5 minutes for hard boiled).
Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and plunge into a large bowl of iced water.
Peel the eggs and set aside until serving.
Finish and serve
Slice the remaining spring onions thinly on the bias. Reserve the darker green ends for garnish.
Peel the remaining ginger and slice into a fine julienne.
Remove the ginger and whites of spring onion from the congee and discard.
Stir through half of the julienne ginger, then the light green spring onions. Season with the sesame oil and remaining light soy and turn the heat off.
To serve spoon into bowls and garnish with remaining ginger and onion, top with a halved egg and season with a dash of Maggi seasoning. Garnish with coriander leaves if you like.
Recipe notes
Cook support
Add a little extra water to the congee if it starts to get too thick towards the end of cooking time. And the more you stir towards the end the creamier the end result can be.
Sourcing
White chicken stock uses raw bones and vegetables for a lighter and more delicate flavour, which is ideal for soups and congee, whereas dark (brown) stock roasts uses roasted bones and aromatics for a deeper colour and richer flavour. Both varieties can be purchased from major supermarkets and quality green grocers.
Substitutions
You can use any leftover cooked meat you have on hand in this recipe, such as turkey, pork, beef steak. SImply add it right at the end just to bring it to temperature.
Storage
Store any leftovers in an airtight container refrigerated for up to 5 days.
Serving ideas
For some extra kick in your congee you can add some finely sliced red chilli or chilli crisp to serve.
